How to Plant & Take Care of Wax Bush Beans
Wax bush beans are a versatile string bean that home gardeners can enjoy as a fresh snap bean early in the growing season. You can also enjoy them as a shelled bean later in the season, or as a dried bean after the growing season. Wax bush beans come in many varieties and colors, but the yellow Carson bush bean is common and familiar to home gardeners. Bush beans do best when planted after the last frost when soil temperatures will remain above 60 degrees F. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Snap bush bean seeds
- Garden shovel
- Garden hoe
- Compost
- Stick (optional)
- Watering can or hose
Instructions
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Wait until after the last spring frost, then prepare the soil in your garden by digging up and loosening the soil where you are going to plant your snap bush beans. Bush beans do best in a row. The rows should be 3 feet apart to give the plants plenty of room to grow.
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Work in some compost with the hoe and smooth the soil over. Water the soil so it is moist, but not so moist that it clumps when you squeeze a handful.
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Plant the seeds about 2 inches apart and about 1 inch deep. If you do not want to bend or kneel while you are planting, you can poke holes with a stick along the row, then drop the seeds in and cover them with soil.
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Water the row lightly. Keep your snap bush beans seeds moist by watering them regularly if there is not much rain. The seeds will germinate in about two weeks. Do not over water the seeds because they can rot in the ground if they stay too wet.
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Water your bean plants regularly after they germinate and begin to produce beans. Bush beans plants do not do well when their leaves are moist so water them early in the day so the leaves can dry off in the sun.
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Stagger your plantings at two week intervals to get more beans during the growing season. Wax bush beans plants only produce for about two weeks during the growing season. By staggering your planting, you can spread out your supply of beans over most of the growing season.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have a small garden plot, you might prefer to grow pole beans. They require a little more work because you have to provide poles for them to grow on, but your yield will be higher for the same amount of space you use for wax bush beans.
Save some dried beans at the end of the growing season for planting next year. The dried seeds should be good for about five years.
Do not start your wax bush bean seeds inside and transplant them to the garden. Unlike some vegetables, such as tomatoes, bush beans do not do well when transplanted.
